Regional History

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Did you know? 1700s

Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated:
09/14/2006 12:46:40 PM EDT

Jan 25, 2005 —

Protestant churches gained their name after their founders withdrew from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries over doctrinal issues. Today, York County has a large number of Protestant churches -- United Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran and United Church of Christ -- because early German, Scotch-Irish and English settlers represented these denominations.

The name "Quaker" was derisive at first for this group with English origins. It soon came into common use because members of the Religious Society of Friends trembled in the fervor of religious feelings during worship services.

York, the White Rose City, and Lancaster, its Red Rose counterpart, take their nicknames from 15th-century England. The War of the Roses, a lengthy series of bloody battles between the houses of Lancaster and York, ended in 1485. That year, Henry VII of the House of Lancaster defeated Richard III of York and united the royal family by marrying Elizabeth of York. (The move stabilized England, but produced a terrifying offspring -- King Henry VIII.) Located in an English proprietorship, many early Pennsylvania settlements gain their names from English towns and royal families, despite the large number of Germans inhabiting them.

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The Moravians are a Protestant denomination with eastern German roots dating earlier than the Reformation of the early 16th century. Moravians were the predominant religious group in the Pennsylvania towns of Bethlehem, Nazareth and Lititz.

The American or Know-Nothing Party in the 19th century consisted of many opposed to immigration and Roman Catholics. The secretive organization gained its name because some members would answer "I do not know" to any questions posed to them.

The sheriff's election in the 18th century attracts such prestige and attention because that powerful position is the chief law enforcement officer in the county.

Water starting in Cooperstown, N.Y. takes six days to reach the Chesapeake Bay, a 448-mile journey.

In America, The Church of England became known as the Episcopal Church, a Protestant denomination. The church was closely tied with the King of England. Thus, some pastors and members were looked upon with suspicion as Tories, or supporters of the crown, in the Revolutionary War.

Methodist ministers, usually traveling alone, become known as circuit riders. These well-traveled horseback riders minister to existing churches or attempt to organize churches where there are none.

The Continental Congress declared a day of national prayer and thanksgiving in the fall of 1777. This celebrated news of the patriot victory at the Battle of Saratoga and was the first of eight special days of prayer and thanksgiving during the Revolutionary War. President Abraham Lincoln declared in 1863 that a national Thanksgiving Day would be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set it one week earlier to help business by lengthening the shopping period before Christmas.

Proprietors of Ye Olde York Valley Inn explain the rules to their often uncouth customers: Four pence a night for bed. Six pence with supper. No more than five to sleep in one bed. No boots to be worn in bed. Organ grinders to sleep in the wash house.

Holy cow! Well, York County's are almost so. Cows serve as valuable beasts of burden. Because of this, records suggest that mid-18th-century York residents eat pork at least twice as much as beef.

The first state constitution in 1776 refers to Pennsylvania as both "commonwealth" and "state," also used in the constitutions of 1790, 1838, 1873, and 1968. Today, "state" and "commonwealth" are used interchangeably. Pennsylvania shares with Virginia, Kentucky and Massachusetts the designation "commonwealth." The word refers to the common "weal" or well-being of the public.

Congress passes the Alien and Sedition Acts to silence opposition to a possible war with France. The legislation enabled the president to deport citizens of enemy nations or to prosecute those advocating resistance to federal laws or criticizing the government.

Indentured servants bound themselves by legal contract to work for a master for a specified period. A master often paid a servantÕs fare to travel to America in exchange for the indenture, and the servant used the time of servitude to train in a trade. Some Southern slaveholders considered the practice a form of Northern slavery. Indentured runaways captured by their masters could have their terms of servitude extended to compensate for lost work time.

In 1797, hail the size of chicken eggs rains on the York area, damaging crops, killing birds and endangering the lives of humans. One estimate places the number of windowpanes broken in the York area at 10,000.

The toast

"I arose from my chair and referred to the numerous toasts that had already been offered in the interests of the American government and the prosecution of the war.
Then I reminded all present that there was one toast that had not been drunk. I then proposed health of the commander-in-chief at Valley Forge.
After I had done this, I looked around the table and saw the faces of the banqueters redden with shame. The silence then grew deeper. None dared refuse the toast, but some merely raised their glasses to their lips, while others cautiously put them down untasted."